


Unbelievable, Instead of Just Invisible

by kml8990



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Past Drug Addiction, Past Drug Use, Tenderness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-18 14:00:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28744374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kml8990/pseuds/kml8990
Summary: Most of his life TK Strand has felt Invisible. Carlos makes him feel seen.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Comments: 2
Kudos: 183





	Unbelievable, Instead of Just Invisible

**Author's Note:**

> I should be working on my Buddie WIP but this idea has been bugging me since we saw the clip of TK's parents arguing and TK wearing the same shirt when Carlos kisses the top of his head. Hope you enjoy.

For as long as TK can remember, he has always felt almost like an after thought. He knew his parents loved him. They told him that frequently as a child, but it often felt as though he could easily be forgotten. 

With his dad, TK had always understood that his job was important to him. That the man was a hero who helped people every day. And he was proud of his dad. He was proud to tell the other kids at school that his father was a firefighter. He was proud to occasionally visit the fire station and see all the men and women whom worked for his dad and seemed to enjoy his leadership. But between the firehouse and TK, TK always felt like he came second. If his dad wasn’t at work, he was usually asleep after long hours or arguing with his mom about something TK couldn’t really understand. Most days, the only interaction TK had with his dad was a kiss on the top of his head while passing from one room to another. All the other boy’s at school talked about their dads taking them to soccer games or playing catch at the park. Owen did that sometimes, but not very often. It made TK really appreciate the times his dad really was focused on him. 

With his mom, TK had never really felt a strong connection to her. She was his mom and he loved her, but she was never really around either. As a lawyer, TK understood that his mom also had an important job. One that didn’t have regular hours. Some cases took longer and took up more of her time, while others were fast and stressless. There were so many nights that TK spent with a babysitter, going to bed without either of his parents home and waking up in the middle of the night to find his mother sitting at their table with a glass of wine and files strewn in front of her. The many babysitters he had and the people in the afterschool programs were the ones to clean scraped knees, help him with his homework and cheer him up after bad days, not his mom.

When his parents happened to be home at the same time, TK wish they weren’t. The arguing always started out in hushed whispers that TK could still hear even though they thought he couldn’t. They would escalate into loud voices before finally ending up in screaming. When it got too loud, TK would lock himself in his bedroom and play with his cars and fire truck until the apartment got quiet again. Neither one of his parents would think to come check on him.

When his parents got divorced, nothing really changed that much. Both of them still worked long hours. When TK spent time with his dad, the man usually fell asleep from exhaustion, leaving TK to entertain himself. When he stayed with his mom, it really meant he was staying with babysitters. The only thing that was different was that there was less yelling. TK still felt invisible though. Like he was never really wanted.

As he got older, TK got used to being on his own. He had never been the best at making friends, but he had a few boys he would talk to at school. He was so used to being on his own that he hadn’t really minded it. Then in high school, he had met this group of kids who seemed to be just as invisible as he was and TK instantly felt at home with them. They weren’t bad people, but he wouldn’t say they made the most responsible choices. The first time TK ever smoked a cigarette, it was because one of the other kids in the group offered it to him. Same with his first drink and his first time using drugs. It’s funny though…the company of the other kids wasn’t what made him feel better after years of feeling invisible. It was the drugs that did that. From the moment he took his first pill, TK knew he would want more. The feeling of being invincible, of not caring about what other crap was going on in his life, was the addiction. 

The feeling of being invisible didn’t go completely away with the drugs though. If anything, they sometimes made him more invisible. No one wanted to stop to acknowledge a kid that was undeniably high. His parents were still absorbed in work that they weren’t around much. If the drugs did anything, they just made him not care that he was invisible. Sure he had a few ‘boyfriends’ or hook ups in his teens and early twenties but he never really felt seen by them. They just used each other to feel something.

TK didn’t feel seen until his first overdose. When he woke up in the hospital, both his mom and dad were by his bedside arguing over whose fault it was that he got involved with drugs. Upon realizing he was awake they stopped, but TK could still tell that they were trying to place the blame on each other. In the days following the overdose, his dad stayed by his side, even taking days off of work to be with him. That was the first time TK really remembered having his father’s full and undivided attention, but it only lasted until he was sent to rehab.

In rehab, TK was just another patient to them. There were dozens of other people in the rehab facility and he was just another face, another name on a paper, another statistic. But TK was fine with it. He was used to blending in.

When he was released from rehab, he wasn’t so invisible to his dad anymore. The man still worked crazy hours, but he was constantly checking up on his son via calls and text messages. TK even moved in with this father to appease the man. It was strange, and almost annoying considering he had lived most of his life without that kind of attention on him. 

As time went on and TK became closer with his father, especially when he became a firefighter himself, he did feel seen by his father but only to a certain extent. While his father was now paying attention and involved in his life, there was so much of how he was feeling and how he had felt in the past. He loved getting closer to his father and working with the man, but his dad didn’t always see him completely. 

After another breakup with a man who didn’t really care about him, and a second overdose, moving to Texas with his dad had probably been for the best. A fresh start. New people, but a familiar job. The difference between the firehouse in Austin and the one in New York was that this crew didn’t just see him as the captain’s son. They saw him as a teammate, an individual, an asset. For the first time in his life people saw TK for the person he was and seemed to like what they saw. The comraderie and family feels of the station were stronger than TK ever imagined they could be. He didn’t have to hide who he was with this crew and it was such a huge weight lifted off of his shoulders.

There was, however, one other person in Texas whom TK felt the most seen with. Officer Carlos Reyes had stumbled into his life so unexpectedly, and TK had been so resistant to him at first. He had tried being in relationships before, and all they did was mess him up. Carlos was different though. He knew when to back off, when to push, and most of all he knew how to see TK for all that he was, and all that he could be. When TK finally let down his walls and decided to take a chance with the man, he had never felt as happy as he was now.

That’s how TK found himself surrounded by most of his found family in his Boyfriend’s apartment on their day off. When he had arrived, he had been flustered. Still upset that his parents were still trying to pull him into their petty arguments all these years later. He was happy that his mom was visiting, but he couldn’t wait for her to leave if it meant the arguing would stop. He had let himself into Carlos’ apartment, the door had been left unlocked as the place was already filled with many of the 126 firehouse crew. Paul and Marjan sat on Carlos’ sofa, battling it out on one of Carlos’ video games. Mateo stood at the breakfast bar, talking with Carlos while the man in question had his back to the rest of them and plated food.

“Hey TK,” Paul greeted as he walked past them, straight to his boyfriend. 

TK nodded in greeting before stepping toward the one man he wanted to see the most. Carlos looked up at him, a warm smile on his face in greeting, though his brow furrowed in quiet concern when he analyzed TK’s expression. It was such a subtle expression change, but it made TK’s heart swell because it meant that his boyfriend had seen him.

“You good?” Carlos asked softly as TK reached for the plate in his hands,

“Yeah,” he replied, not really wanting to get into it with their friends around. He lent forward and pressed a gentle kiss to his boyfriend’s lips before taking the plate from his hands to place it on the table with the other snacks.

TK grabbed a handful of grapes before sitting down on an empty seat while Marjan and Paul tried to sabotage one another in the game. He sat and listened to his friends around him, not really feeling up to joining in but being thankful to have them around. 

He heard footsteps come from behind him and he didn’t flinch as Carlos’ hands squeezed his shoulder and the man bent down to press a kiss to the top of his head. His heart filled with love for this man who was so willing to show TK he cared for him in quiet ways when he knew TK didn’t want attention brought onto himself in the group. He reached behind him to grab one of Carlos’ hands and give it a grateful squeeze. 

TK was aware that he was strangely quiet throughout the whole gathering. He knew the other members of the 126 noticed his silence, but thankfully they didn’t press. A few hours later, after the food had been devoured and movie night wrapped up, TK quietly began cleaning up the apartment while Carlos showed his guests out for the evening. TK was at the sink when Carlos returned, the slightly taller man wrapping his arms around TK’s waist, giving him a gentle squeeze as the firefighter rinsed the dishes he had gathered. After drying his hands, TK leant back against his boyfriend, smiling slightly when Carlos pressed a kiss against the side of his neck.

“You want to tell me what is going on?” Carlos asked softly as he swayed the two of them side to side.

“It’s kind of dumb,” 

“Nothing you ever feel is dumb, Ty,”

TK sighed, turning in Carlos’ arms so he could face the other man, “Having my mom here has been great. I missed her. But my parents together is just….there’s a reason they got divorced.”

“C’mon, let’s sit,” Carlos requested, tugging on TK’s hand and pulling him to the couch. Carlos sat down with his back against the arm of the couch and stretching across the length of it and pulled TK down to sit between his legs and rest his back against Carlos’ chest. “I’m here to listen to whatever you want to say,” the latino man said softly, pressing a kiss against the shell of TK’s ear.

TK stayed quiet for a while just taking in Carlos’ presence and silent support. He wasn’t really sure how to word it, but he knew he wanted to try to explain his thoughts.

“I’ve always felt….kind of invisible? Insignificant?” TK admits after nearly 5 minutes of silence. “My parents love me. I’ve never doubt that. But I was never really a priority to them. At least that is how I felt. They both worked crazy hours. I spent more of my time with babysitters than I did them. And they always argued when they did both happened to be home. It wasn’t until I overdosed for the first time that I felt like they really saw me and everything I was going through.” At this admission, Carlos squeezed TK tighter. “Same with friends and boyfriends really. I always felt like I wasn’t seen. But then we moved here and I am finally happy, really happy. Despite all the shit that has happened, despite getting shot, I finally feel content with my life and enjoy my friends. I feel like I have a real family now. And hearing them argue today and blame each other for shit that happened fifteen years ago, trying to use me as their buffer was just….it brought back some feelings I didn’t want to experience again.”

Carlos stayed silent for a few minutes, tucking his face into the curve of TK’s neck and just breathing the other man in for a while. “Thank you for sharing with me,” Carlos said softly. “I’m sorry that their arguing made you feel bad. I’m sorry that you ever felt that way, because you are not invisible TK. Very far from it.”

“You make me feel seen,” TK admitted. “No one in my life has ever made me feel as seen or as important as you.”

Carlos nudged TK to sit up and encouraged the man to turn slightly so he could press a kiss to the man’s lips, “You are the most important person in my life,” he said after he pulled back.

TK shifted so he was now facing Carlos, pinning the man between himself and the couch. He pressed his lips firmly against his boyfriends, their mouths moving together in a sweet, but heated, kiss. TK ran his tongue across the seam of Carlos’ lips, and the other man parted them to allow TK to deepen their kiss. Carlos’ hands came up to grip TK’s lower back, TK’s own hands sliding beneath Carlos’ shirt and running up the man’s chest. 

“I love you,” TK said softly, his breath heaving as he pulled slightly away from his boyfriend. 

“I love you too,” Carlos responded quickly before capturing TK’s lips in another kiss.

The pair stumbled to Carlos’ room a few moments later and Carlos made it his mission to show TK just how unbelievably seen and loved he really was.

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: @imjusttryingtobesomebody


End file.
